by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

When David Stern announced he would retire next February, his 30th anniversary as NBA commissioner, he likely thought he had seen it all.

But here he is, in the 11th hour of a tenure that has been historic and memorable in many ways, directing traffic in an unprecedented affair, this fight for the Kings between Sacramento and Seattle, that will leave a lasting note on his legacy. And with a week left before the Board of Governors meetings in New York, when a vote on the matter likely will take place, this much has become abundantly clear: Stern still wields considerable influence, and strong signs persist that he's doing all he can to keep the team in Sacramento.

For all of Stern's talk of playing a merely advisory role, the growing sentiment from all sides is the commissioner, who has always been clear about his distaste for relocation, is determined to avoid having a sixth team change cities on his watch. And he remains powerful enough to pull it off. The story line is sticky, of course, because of the way the league moved the Seattle SuperSonics to the Oklahoma City in 2008 and the widely held assumption that Stern was hellbent on returning the NBA to Seattle before he retired.

This is a good problem to have for Stern and his successor, deputy commissioner Adam Silver. They clearly are smitten with the potential global impact that could come with Sacramento's lead investor, Indian software tycoon Vivek Ranadive, but might have a hard time denying Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his deep pockets. Rumors of expansion as the potential solution to satisfy both sides persist, but Stern has said consistently it is not an option at the moment. The reality remains that one city will go home unhappy. The Sacramento group needs eight votes to block the agreed-upon deal that is in place with the Seattle investment group and the Maloof family that owns the team. The Sacramento group, headed by former NBA point guard and Mayor Kevin Johnson, hopes the board will accept its deal that is expected to match the Seattle group's. Whichever way this goes, Stern's final say will guide it.

The tale of the tape is impressive and complex. Ballmer, who has a net worth of $15.2 billion, according to Forbes, and hedge fund manager Chris Hansen lead the Seattle group, a pairing so powerful that their purchase price, a valuation of $525 million to buy 65% of the team, is seen as relative pocket change. Yet Sacramento â?? small market though it may be â?? has a group that has piqued Stern's interest because of the globalization that he has made such a hallmark of his career.

If Sacramento keeps the team, Ranadive, who founded his $4 billion TIBCO software company and is a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors, would become the first majority owner of Indian descent in a league with only a minimal presence in the world's second-most-populated country. Stern, coincidentally enough, was in Mumbai this week, predicting there would be an Indian player in the NBA within five years. Connecting the dots has never been so easy.

The Maloofs, whose attempt two years ago to move the team to Anaheim was undercut by the NBA and who have bristled at how they've been marginalized in this latest process, tried to re-insert themselves into the situation on Wednesday. According to The Sacramento Bee, they gave the Sacramento group a 5 p.m. PT Friday deadline to issue a written, binding backup offer that matches the Seattle deal. The report was met with a collective yawn from the Sacramento side, with Johnson indicating Wednesday he would continue to make calls from the NBA-issued playbook Stern told him to stick to so long ago.

"I don't have anything negative to say about the Maloofs," Johnson said. "I feel that there's a process that the NBA laid out. Our owners are abiding by that process. They're communicating regularly with the NBA. They're communicating regularly with the Maloofs and their representatives.

"I think at the end of the day, it won't be about all these rumors being said. It will be, really, two good offers from two good cities that both deserve teams. The difference is that we have a team here and I think we should keep our team."

The root of the Maloofs' angst is the disagreement about where Sacramento's offer stands. The Maloofs continue to privately question whether the Sacramento group is willing to match Seattle's offer and are concerned Hansen might sue them if he not only loses out on the team, but also loses money in the process. But a person with knowledge of the situation said it was made clear to the NBA at an April 3 meeting in New York that the Sacramento side will fully match the offer. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the negotiations.

Because the Hansen-Ballmer group gave the Maloofs a $30 million deposit that was characterized as "non-refundable" in early February as a sign of their commitment, the Sacramento group, according to the person who was at the meetings in which both sides addressed the NBA's relocation and finance advisory committees, attempted to come in $30 million lower than Seattle as an initial strategy. Their hope was that the NBA would consider those funds, in essence, the cost of doing business for Seattle and that the deal would be deemed acceptable as long as the Maloofs walked away with the same amount of profit from their pitch.

Yet when the NBA indicated that the approach was not acceptable, according to the person, it was made clear that they were prepared to fully match. The NBA is not expected to allow the situation to evolve into a bidding war should the Seattle side attempt to simply up its binding bid.

When asked about the deposit and how it would factor in at the April 3 news conference, Silver said it was a "contingent deal" based on the Hansen-Ballmer group getting and relocating the team, though it remains to be seen if Hansen and Ballmer agree. And with so many surmising that the Maloofs' deadline came as a result of them being unclear where Sacramento's side stands, Johnson disputed the notion that there is a communications breakdown.

"They know the (offer) number - trust me," he said. "They know the number. We articulated to all the owners, attorneys have reached out to the Maloof families. They know what the number is. They know that it's better than competitive. I think Stern came out April 3 and made a press conference and essentially said, 'Money is not an issue right now.' So I mean that right there says volumes from where our offer was.

"You can ask me a hundred different ways. Money is not an issue. Our group has stepped up and (done) what's necessary for our community, which we call 'Playing to win' to keep our team in Sacramento. Honestly."

The possible evidence of Stern's preference has been mounting for some time, but his comments at a March 8 news conference in Oakland seemed most telling. After indicating that Sacramento's initial offer was well short of what would be deemed necessary to be considered by the Board of Governors, he said, "I have an expectation, a hope, that the variance (between the offers) will be eliminated by the time the owners give it consideration." He said April 3 that money was no longer an issue in the offer, and the hope that had started to sink in Sacramento was afloat again.

Then came this week's development that, on face value, should have been such a significant blow to Sacramento: Lead arena investor Ron Burkle, who for years was considered the possible hero for their efforts, was not allowed to be involved in the team or arena proposal because he has a stake in the sports agency Relativity Media. (Burkle is still heavily involved in economic development around the proposed arena.) The league issued a statement confirming the development, but seemed otherwise numb to the notion that it was a setback for Sacramento.

The end to this two-year long tale isn't clear just yet, but this much is clear: if the team stays, it will have everything to do with Stern.